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PRESS RELEASEFOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

J-POP SUMMIT 2016 DELIVERS A MEMORABLEWEEKEND OF JAPANESE POP CULTURE
INSPIRED FUN
The San Francisco Bay Area’s Premiere Japanese Pop Culture Celebration
Was Another Smashing Success With The Most Diverse Program Of Live
Events Ever Presented
San Francisco, CA, July 28, 2016 – J-POP SUMMIT 2016, returned to the Bay Area for its 8th
annual all-sensory celebration of vibrant Japanese pop culture. This year, the Festival drew
more than 20,000 attendees to historic the Fort Mason Center located in San Francisco’s
Marina district.
Recognized internationally as a preeminent platform for showcasing the vivacious and cuttingedge latest trends in Japanese pop and rock music, fashion, film, popular art, and pop culture,
the J-POP SUMMIT 2016 also added special focused attractions this year that highlighted
Ramen, Sake and Travel. An Interactive Summit also featured a display of innovative newJapanese consumer tech products and was complemented by a conference and idea-thon led
by a vanguard of visionary entrepreneurs and tech visionaries from Japan and the Bay Area.
“J-POP SUMMIT 2016 was the most successful Festival we have staged to-date in terms of thesheer diversity of programming and the wide range of different attractions,” says Seiji Horibuchi,
Chairman of the J-POP SUMMIT Committee. “Each year we strive to present a unique andmemorable Festival and we are very gratified that J-POP SUMMIT has continued to evolve andgrow and has remained such a vital part of the Bay Area’s annual summertime calendar. We
look forward to 2017!!”
MusicJapan’s princess of pop, Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, returned for her second headlining appearance
at J-POP SUMMIT and kicked off this year’s festival with a frenzied, dance-driven concert for asold out crowd at The Regency Ballroom. The singer delivered many hits from her newest Bestof KPP anthology release.

J-POP SUMMIT 2016 Delivers A Memorable Weekend Of Pop Culture Inspired FunPage 2Continuing throughout the weekend at Ft. Mason, additional J-POP SUMMIT 2016 live music
performances were held by the electronic dance group, WORLD ORDER, all-female pop rockband, Silent Siren, pop house unit, Wednesday Campanella, idol dance troupe, TokyoPerformance Doll, kimono cosplay duo, YANAKIKU, and the ani-pop duo, GARNiDELiA.
FashionThe J-POP SUMMIT 2016 also gathered a colorful vanguard of edgy and unique Japanesefashion labels and purveyors. Highlights of this year’s programming included workshops,
exhibits, apparel items and accessories from modern Japanese style clothing brand, SOU•SOU,along with a variety of other handpicked items and brands from Japan in the MOSHI MOSHINIPPON area. The Festival also celebrated the return of Guest of Honor and fashion
visionary, Sebastian Masuda, art director and an extremely influential artist for Harajuku
kawaii culture, for a special series of events and attendee meet-and-greet sessions, as well as
rising pop star and fashion model, UNA, for a special live performance.
Other Guests of Honor from Japan
A diverse range of Japanese pop personalities, artists and celebrities also appeared as special
Guests of Honor. In addition to the aforementioned musical artists, special guests included thepop art creator, Kaori Wakamatsu, visual pop artist Hiroyuki-Mitsume Takahashi, artist KenHamazaki a.k.a. “The Red Man”, renowned Japanese chef Tasuo Saito and Japanesecelebrity Yu Hayami. Japan’s drag royalty and singer, Mitz Mangrove, along with Domo, themascot for network NHK, and Japan’s favorite Go-Torch Characters also made liveappearances.
Ramen Summit
The Ramen Summit was curated by Yoshiyuki Maruyama, Executive Chef of San Francisco’sown Orenchi Beyond.Five top-rated ramen makers from the Bay Area, New York and Japanjoined - Hinodeya Ramen Bar from Japan (and opening in San Francisco this summer inJapantown), Naruto Ramen from New York, Iza Ramen, Orenchi Beyond and Ramen Taka
from Bay Area. Plans are being made for an even larger Ramen Fest next year at J-POP
SUMMIT 2017.
Sake Summit
The Sake Summit area was the most extensive yet presented at any J-POP SUMMIT andadded a festive libation to the weekend’s events and also gave attendees the opportunity tolearn about the world of sake from a variety of premier sake purveyors that included Kikusui;Otokoyama; Hakushika; Kurosawa; Katana; Hakutsuru; Fukuju; Sequoia Sake and Takara
Sake USA.
Travel Pavilion
This year, J-POP SUMMIT 2016 debuted an extensive “VIRTUAL TRIP TO JAPAN” attraction
from JAPANKURU, a travel organization encouraging millennial tourism to Japan. Guests dove
deep into Japanese culture and “visited” three Zones that featured interactive experiences
fusing the past, present and future and showcasing what makes Japan a travelers’ delight.
Highlights included the debut of KURUKI, Japankuru’s new kawaii (cute) blue dog character
that made live appearances on the stage. A visit to “Tokyo Daijingu,” a mock-up of a major
Shinto shrine in Tokyo was the most popular experience, and guests prayed for good fortune in
the “Shrine" and received fortunes and prizes. The Kawaii Station highlighted “Harajuku,” theworld-renowned mecca of “kawaii (cute)” culture and legions of attendees and fashion devotees
donned colorful and fancy pop-inspired ensembles and accessories.
J-POP Drag Queen Contest

J-POP SUMMIT 2016 Delivers A Memorable Weekend Of Pop Culture Inspired FunPage 3

The first-ever J-POP SUMMIT Drag Contest was held on the Main Stage with local celebrity
drag hosts D’Arcy Drollinger and Heklina, and J-POP SUMMIT’s Guest of Honor Mitz
Mangrove as a special celebrity judge. Five contestants competed, displaying anime, manga,and cherry blossom motifs and making the event one of the highlights of the Sunday stageactivities.
Interactive Summit
J-POP SUMMIT 2016 marked the second annual Interactive Summit, bringing Japanese andJapanese-American tech along for the ride. Startups and worldwide corporations alike debuted
the latest in Japanese innovation, from Yamaha’s autonomous motorcycle-riding humanoid
robot “Motobot,” to MESH’s network of buttons that make any device smart, toINUPATHY’s dog collar that lights up different colors based on your pup’s emotions.
Mazda zoomed in at full speed with displays of its new CX-3 and MX-5 MIATA cars. But guests
didn’t have to wait to drive them: Mazda used Sony’s Gran Turismo to let attendees sit behind areal wheel and drive laps in Mazda’s latest vehicles on a professional raceway without evenleaving the venue. Likewise, TOTO brought its A100 Washlet, a toilet seat fit for 2016 with its
bidet pump, heating, automatic seat opener and push-button controls to adjust the wholeexperience.
Meanwhile, the Sessions at Gallery 308 buzzed with the combined entrepreneurial spirit ofJapan and San Francisco/Silicon Valley’s unique symbiotic bi-national relationship that is driven
by technological innovation. Featuring panels on Designed IoT and Robotics, the event beganwith a startup pitch contest, “Innovation Weekend SF 2016,” where founders presented theirbusinesses to a wide range of professional attendees. The winner was Velo Lab for its smart
key lock called Skylock. The runner-up was to Butterfly. Both teams will be invited to Tokyo at
the end of this year for the Innovation Weekend Grand Finale 2016 to compete with otherwinners and runners-up from all over the world.
About J-POP SUMMIT
J-POP SUMMIT is one of the world’s biggest Japanese pop culture events, held every summer
in San Francisco, CA. By introducing the latest in Japanese music, fashion, film, art, games,
tech-innovations, anime, food, as well as niche subcultures, the festival has become a landing
platform for new trends from Japan.
Official website: www.j-pop.com
Official YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/JPOPSUMMIT/featured###